Santa Is My Ho-Ho-Homeboy & Other XShot Photos From This Week

What a week. From Florida to Houston, back to Florida and up to New York City I went. And then I flew to India, where I am right now, sitting in my hotel room in Delhi, still in a state of disbelief about being back in this incredible country.

And in between all of the flying over the last seven days, in between my visa run to Houston and trying to get as much work done as possible, and in between the hundreds upon hundreds of emails, I somehow still managed to accomplish everything I set out to accomplish during my quick visit back to the US.

I spent a full morning at the beach in Florida, with my mom joining me…

before visiting with my grandmother and the always entertaining Leo, her long-time partner.

I then tried to buy a new shirt but couldn’t find anything that suited me (I decided against this one in the end).

And I sat down and organized all of the stuff I keep stored at my mother’s place.

Then, in a flash, that visit was over and I found myself walking out the door of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, where, immediately upon arrival in the city center, I ran around in such awe that you would have thought it was my first time here. I just couldn’t wait to…

Check into Raj’s Cozy Inn, my favorite budget hotel in Delhi…

Eat at my favorite restaurant in the city, the Hindi name of which I still don’t know…

Drink a pineapple shake from my favorite roadside shake stall…

Enjoy a wonderful shave from a barber I’ve used many times before…

Wander through the chaotic, yet atmospheric, Main Bazaar in Pahar Ganj…

And meet with Ajay, the amazing man who helped organize certain aspects of my upcoming Welcome to India tour…

Exhausted from all of that activity, I actually ended up falling asleep that first night just before 8pm, however, I was woken up at 10pm by the sound of loud drums, as one should expect to happen on any given night in this country. So I put on my clothes, went up to the roof top of the hotel, stuck my XShot out over the wall and captured a wedding celebration taking place in the lane below. And I must say that the sight of everyone dancing, of those drummers playing their music and of the smiles that this celebration brought to the faces of all those around, instantly made me realize that returning to India this year was definitely a wise decision…

And my XShot has proven so useful that I honestly do believe, as I’ve stated before, that every traveler would benefit from owning one. For around $22 bucks you’ll suddenly have the ability to capture photos of yourself at all times while also being able to capture photos from angles and perspectives you never thought possible.

Thank you all for following along with this 3-month series and I hope those of you who already bought an XShot have been taking some interesting and unique photos as a result!

Hey Caroline – They don’t have a website but they will quickly respond to any emails sent to: cozytravels@vsnl.com

It’s a simple, but friendly place, small (only 11 rooms) and in a good, usually quiet location. Smaller rooms cost 495 Rps and larger rooms (which I highly recommend) cost 650 Rps. Another good place is the Smyle Inn around the corner with comfy rooms for 700 Rps. It’s a great value too and they do have a website.

Great photos of Delhi, I must admist that I’m pretty envious right now. One of my favorite experiences there was getting a free meal and spending a good few hours chatting with the Sikh community at the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib temple.

A wise wandering traveller once told me: Just have a think about what the barber does with the hand that’s pinching your nose as he shaves your upper lip…

Have a ball mate and hope the tour goes well. If you’ve got nothing in the blog queue, perhaps something on Delhi? I wasn’t a big fan and I know Niall had a few issues, interested on your gems and the things you love about Delhi?

Ahhh I’m so jealous that you’re in India right now. Diwali my absolute favorite holiday is coming up in a couple of weeks. Are you going to celebrate it? Seriously one of the most entertaining and fun holidays in the world. There is a awesome public celebration that takes place near Lal Killa in Delhi you should check out. I don’t know the exact location off the top of my head but its so worth it.